Transcript File

The Rise of Civilization:
The Art of the Ancient Near East
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The Ancient Near East
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Goals
• Understand the cultural changes in the Neolithic
Revolution as they relate to the art and architecture.
• Understand the concept of civilization and the
importance of Sumer in the ancient Near East.
• Examine the artistic materials, techniques, subject
matter, styles and conventions developed in the
ancient Near East.
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Definitions
• City-state: Independent cities that were each under the
protection of a different deity, represented by the rulers.
Rulers and priests directed all communal activities, which
were institutionalized.
• Cuneiform: The beginning of writing, taking the form
of wedge-shaped signs, simplified from pictograph signs
(simplified pictures).
• Cylinder seal: A cylindrical piece of stone engraved to
produce a raised impression when rolled over clay. Used
to “sign” and seal documents.
• Gilgamesh: An epic from the 3rd millennium BCE
describing Gilgamesh, the legendary kind of Uruk and
slayer of the monster Huwawa.
• Heraldic composition: A composition that is
symmetrical on either side of a central figure.
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Sumerian Religion, Society, and Art
The Neolithic Revolution
• Revolutionary change in daily life occurred in
Mesopotamia.
– AKA The Fertile Crescent
• Learned how to use wheel, plow, irrigation and
control floods.
• Sumerian Art
– Was created in the City-States of Sumer.
– The rulers were the gods’ representative on earth, thus
rulers and the priests directed all activities.
– Labor specialization developed.
• City Planning & Religion: Reflected the central role of
the local god in daily life. As well as administrative &
economic.
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Sumerian Religion, Society, and Art
• The earliest writing dates to 3400-3200 BCE
– Counting using pictographs
scratched into soft clay arises in
Sumer & Elam [Iraq/Iran]
– Developed into cuneiform 
– By 2600 BCE complex grammar
had been developed.
– The Epic of Gilgamesh is from
this period.
• Uruk’s White Temple:
– 5,000 years old. Built of mud bricks
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Sumerian Religion, Society, and Art
Uruk’s White Temple: 3200-3000 BCE [5,000 years old.]
-- The “bent axis” approach to the sanctuary was standard
for Sumerian temples
-- Corners oriented to
cardinal directions
-- Temple itself was small.
-- Gods reside
above the
level of
humans.
Model 
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Sumerian Religion, Society, and Art
The Inanna [?] 3200-3000 BCE
• Maybe just a priestess
• Imported stone, colored shells &
stones, a wig of gold leaf.
• Missing body of wood clothed
& decorated elegantly.
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Sumerian Religion, Society, and Art
The Wark Vase [for presenting offerings]
ca 3200-3000 BCE
• Sumerians may have been the first to tell
stories using pictures.
• The vase depicts a religious festival in
honor of the goddess.
– Divided into 3 “registers” or friezes
– Lowest frieze shows animals in
strict profile. Images reflected
economics, but also fertility.
– 2nd band: Naked men carrying jars
of offerings; nature’s bounty – men
composite– frontal & profile. Conceptual vs optical representation.
– Top band:Female figure with tall
horned headdress. Men bringing
offerings are smaller – “hierarchy of
scale”
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Sumerian Religion, Society, and Art
The Wark Vase [Wark is modern name for Uruk]
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The Gods & Goddesses of Mesopotamia
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•
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Anu: Chief deity of sky and the city-state of Uruk.
Enil: Anu’s son; winds & earth. [took over as chief god]
Inanna: Goddess of love & war. Later named Ishtar.
Nanna: The moon god, also Sin; Ur.
Babylon:
– Utu/Shamash: God of the Sun.
– Marduk: chief god of theBabylonians.
• Others: Nabu [writing/wisdom];
Ada [storms] [Both on Ishtar Gate];
Ningirsu [Lagash/Girsu – appears on the Stele of the
Vultures]
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Sumerian Religion, Society, and Art
• Votive Statues: Eshunna
– 1-3 ft in height; Made of simple
shapes – cones, cylinders, but
specific in dress and type.
Statue of 2
worshippers
at Eshunna 
ca. 2700 BCE
 From Temple
of Ishtar at
Mari, ca 26002500 BCE
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Sumerian Religion, Society, and Art
• How did the religion practiced by
Sumerians differ from that practiced
by Paleolithic hunters and how were
those religions reflected in art? What
was the relationship between religion
and the state in ancient Sumer?
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Victory & Vultures
• Stele: Carved stone slab to
commemorate an event.
– This stele presents a labeled
narrative. ca. 26005-2500 BCE
– Victory of Eannatum of
Lagash over Umma.
– Takes its name from scene of
vultures carrying off the severed
heads of the vanquished.
• Provides info about warfare
techniques & the special
status of the Sumerian ruler
• The God Ningirsu watched
over Ennatum
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“War & Peace”/Standard of Ur
• The Sumerians buried their elite in vaulted chambers, under
the earth, with servants and possessions. ca. 2600 BCE
• Standard of Ur: sloping sides inlaid with shells and lapis.
– Called War/Peace, but may have been two parts of a
single narrative.
– Why is it called a “standard”?
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War 
Peace 
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Lyre from Ur [restored]
• From the “King’s Grave” in Ur.
• Bull’s head decoratation
• On the soundbox
are animals with
human faces
serving a banquet,
playing music
& dancing.
• ca. 2600 BCE
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Sumerian Art in Miniature
• Cylinder seal depicting a
banquet – from tomb of
“Queen” Pu-abi.
ca. 2600 BCE
• Smaller scale than
Standard of Ur, but
similar
figure types &
rukes are
utilized.
• Use?
– Seals were
used to
identify
documents &
protect
storage jars.
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AKKADIAN, NEO-SUMERIAN,
BABYLONIAN, AND HITTITE ART
• Gudea of Lagash: Ensi of Lagash c. 2100 BCE.
Preferred statuettes to regal trappings, and also liked
statues carved of him in diorite. [igneous/close to
feldspar]
• Hammurabi: King of Babylon from c. 1792-1750
BCE. He established a central government over
south Mesopotamia. He is most famous for his code
of laws, which he had inscribed on a black basalt
stele.
• Sargon II: Assyrian king, who started the building
of a royal citadel at Dur Sharrukin that covered 25
acres.
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The First Near-Eastern Kings
The head of the Akkadian ruler
combines both naturalism and
formal abstract patterning. 22502200 BCE
Naturalism
• The shape of the nose
• Different textures of hair and
flesh
• Contrasting textures of beard,
mustache, and hair.
Abstract patterning
• Patterns in hair
• Stylistic symmetry
• Formal patterns of lozenges and
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The First Near-Eastern Kings
• Victory stele of Naram-Sin
from Susa: Defeat of the Lullubi
– Second inscription by an
Elamite king who captured
Susa and took the stele as
booty.
• Symbolism?
– Storming the mountain =
scaling the heavens
•2254-2218 BCE
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The First Near-Eastern Kings
• Neo-Sumerian state established at Ur: “The Third Dynasty
of Ur.”
– Ziggarut built ca.
2100 BCE
– Made of baked bricks
and bitumen.
– 1,000 yrs after Uruk.
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The Piety of Gudea
• These statues showed his piety as well
as his wealth and pride
• They were designed to always be in
the temple to give the gods their due.
• Diorite: Hard, costly stone: imported
and difficult to carve.
– Image is of Gudea presenting his
plan to Ningirsu for the new
temple. ca. 2100
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The Code of Hammurabi
Ca. 1780 BCE [18th cen. BCE]
• King Hammurabi wrote a comprehensive
law code for his subjects.
– If any man puts out the eye of another
man, his eye shall be put out
– If he kills a man’s slave he shall pay
one-third of a mina.
– It someone steals property from a
temple, he will be put to death, as will
the recipient of the stolen goods.
– …. If a man’s wife is caught in bed
with another man, both will be tied up
and thrown in the water.
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King Hammurabi
• The stele with the code written on it
was carried off to Susa as booty in
1157 BCE
• It shows Hammurabi in the presence
of the sun god, Shamash.
– Symbol of Shamash?
– Artist used convention of
combined front and side views,
with exception of headdress.
– May have experimented with
foreshortening.
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Zimiri-Lim & Ishtar
• King Zimiri-Lin controlled Neo-Sumerian city-state of
Mari during reign of Hammurabi.
• Royal Palace was destroyed by Hammurabi in 1757 BCE
• Painting frament represents the investiture of Zimiri-Lin,
his right to rule granted by Ishtar [formerly Inanna]
• Symbols:
Ishtar:
sacred lion
Right to rule:
rod/ring
• Painting
symbolizes the
benevolence
of the gods
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The Hittites’ Fortified Capital
• The Lion Gate: ca. 1400 BCE -- Lions are 7 ft high
– Early example of protecting cities through sculptures of
wild beasts at the gate.
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Middle Elamite & Assyrian Art
• Proto-Elamite & Elamite records
are among the earliest “writing”
known.
– Elam appears in Genesis 10:22
• Statue of Queen Napir-Asu from
Susa, 1350-1300 BCE – life-size
– Weighs 3,760 lbs even now.
– Has a solid bronze core inside a
hollow-cast copper shell.
– Was to be a permanent,
immovable votive offering in
the temple.
– Shares many characteristics with
earlier votive statues. They are?
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ASSYRIAN: Citadel of Sargon II
• Unfinished [ca. 721-705 BCE]
– Exhibited both confidence &
fear. Covered 25 acres
– Had over 200 courtyards &
rooms
• Represented Sargon’s
grandeur:
– Merciless &
– Forgiving
• Included a ziggurat
and sanctuaries for 6
deities.
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Citadel of Sargon II
The Guardian Gates of the Citadel. [made of limestone]
[ca. 721-705 BCE]
• Lamassu: winged , human-headed bull
• Partly in the round,
but conceived as
high reliefs.
• Presents a
conceptual view
of the creature,
in order to show
all aspects.
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Chronicles of “Great Deeds”: Ashurnasirpal
• ca. 875-860 BCE -- Later than Egyptian ones, but have
greater detail. Records battlefield victories & slaying of wild
animals.
• A compressed style
to make the story
legible.
• Combines different
viewpoints.
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Babylon
Hanging Gardens & Marduk ziggurat. [“Tower of Babel”]
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Neo-Babylonian & Achaemenid Art
Ishtar Gate:
• King Nebuchadnezzar
[r. 604-562 BCE] –
mentioned in Daniel.
• Babylon was built of
mud bricks, but the
important buildings
were faced with glazed
bricks
• Images on bricks are of
Marduk’s dragon &
Adad’s bull in profile.
• Babylon conquered by Cyrus of Persia in the 6th cen. BCE.
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Neo-Babylonian & Achaemenid Art
Ishtar’s sacred lion
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Elamite, Assyrian, and Neo-Babylonian Art
• Evaluate the stylistic and formal visual aspects of later
Mesopotamian art and its iconography.
• Explore the ideas of power expressed in the art of the
Assyrians.
• Examine the materials and techniques of Assyrian and
Neo-Babylonian painting and low relief sculpture.
• Critically evaluate the role of art and power in different
Near Eastern civilizations from this period.
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Persia: Persepolis [Iran] ca. 521-465 BCE
The Gate of All Lands: entrance to the complex
• Many nations contributed to the site:
– Ionian Greeks, Medes, Egyptians, Babylonians
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Persepolis [Iran]
Aerial view of the site: Sculpture echoes Archaic Greek style
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Persepolis [Iran]
Frieze from The Royal Audience Hall
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Persepolis [Iran]
Persepolis characteristics
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•
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Monumental gateway with man-headed bulls
Apadana - huge royal audience hall.
Reliefs
Columns
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Persian and Sassanian Splendor
• Explore how the Persian art and the later Sassanian
art is different from other art of Mesopotamia.
• Identify hallmarks of Persian culture and style in art
and architecture.
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Sasanian Art: Shapur I & Ctesiphon
• Palace at Ctesiphon noted for the large barrel vault of
the iwan, or audience hall.
-- 1,000 yrs later Islamic artists looked to
this palace as their standard for their
own work.
•Shapur II?
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Reliefs at Bishapur
Celebrated victory of Shapur I
over Roman emperor, Valerian,
ca. 260 BCE
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Discussion Questions
 Discuss how many artworks are intended to
celebrate a ruler’s accomplishments—even if they
did not occur?
 Identify evidence of the Sumerian culture’s lasting
influence today.
 Identify evidence of the Persian Empire’s lasting
influence today.
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Mesopotamian Architecture
• Compare the architecture of the Neo-Sumerian
ziggurat with the city of Babylon and the fabled
“Tower of Babel.” Explore the different materials
used.
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